Arsenal have completed their first transfer deal of the summer by making Pablo Mari’s loan move to Monza permanent.
The Spanish defender joined the newly promoted Serie A club at the start of the current season, initially on loan, but with a compulsory purchase option included in the event that they managed to avoid relegation back to Serie B.
That option valued the player at £6.1 million.
A win over Spezia at the weekend guaranteed their safety, so now the agreement comes into force.
His career at Monza was interrupted for a while after he was caught up in a violent incident whilst shopping with his wife at a local supermarket. A shopworker was stabbed to death and Mari received non-life threatening injuries.
Mari joined the Gunners initially on loan from Brazilian side Flamengo, before that too was made permanent. However, he found first-team opportunities hard to come by under Mikel Arteta.
